Sweet Short Crust Pastry

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Easy

Following recipes word for word has been one of my weaknesses in life. I am always tempted to add my own twist and take on recipes, I suppose it’s all part of the excitement.

But when it comes to making pastry there is a golden rule, that one should not mess with the recipe, as a disaster is most likely to happen. This sweet short crust pastry recipe is one of those little gems that I know I can rely on and comes out perfect everytime.

You can however flavour your pastry without changing the structure too much by adding vanilla seeds, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, fresh orange, lime or lemon zest. If you add small quantities and do not over do it the recipe will be perfectly delicious and fine.

I always make more than needed, freeze it on the day in 240g blocks. This can be very handy when you need to make something spectacular at short notice.

Ingredients & Method

460g plain all purpose flour

280g unsalted butter, at room temperature

120g caster sugar

2 large free-range eggs

pinch of salt

1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out (optional)

Weigh the softened butter, salt, sugar and vanilla seeds in to the bowl of a mixer, use the flat paddle attachment and cream the sugar and butter until fluffy and pale in colour.

Crack the eggs into a small bowl and lightly whisk. Slowly add the eggs a bit at a time to the butter mixture, mix well.

Remove the mixing bowl and sieve the flour over the creamed butter, return to the mixer with the paddle, slowly mix the flour into the butter, do not over mix. Once the pastry comes together stop.

Turn the pastry out on to a lightly floured work surface, divide the pastry in appropriate sizes, do not kneed the pastry, just push it together in to flat squares.

This recipe makes approximately 4 x 240g blocks. Cover each piece with clingfilm and make it airtight. I like to make them as flat , square and even sizes so that they fit comfortably in to my freezer, nice and tidy.

Cooks Notes

The secret to this recipe is to not over work the pastry, work quick and rest the pastry for at least 30 minutes before using. Remove the pastry at least 30 minutes from the fridge before using, this will help the pastry to soften slightly and prevent you from stretching the pastry when rolling.